Nearly 20 years ago a young Australian widow inherited a debt-ridden mining
company from her father.

Today Gina Rinehart, 57, is the richest person in Australia and predicted to
become the wealthiest in the world.

She saw her fortune more than double to A$10.3 billion (£6.8 billion) in the
past year thanks to a commodities boom, and is on course to overtake Mexican
magnate Carlos Slim who is worth £46 billion, and the Microsoft chairman
Bill Gates, who is worth £35 billion, according to Citigroup.

While Ms Rinehart’s wealth is currently only a fraction of theirs, researchers
at the US